Archimonde
Archimonde the Defiler'' was the right hand of the fallen titan, Sargeras. Archimonde was one of the greatest and darkest of the Eredar. His ruthless and cunning personality quickly earned him station and power within the Eredar ranks, until finally he was one of the first among them. Origin 25,000 years ago, Archimonde was one of the three leaders (the others being Kil'jaeden and Velen) of the Eredar homeworld of Argus contacted by Sargeras and offered immense power in exchange for his loyalty. Archimonde and Kil'jaeden readily accepted the offer, though Velen not only rejected it, but rebelled and fled Argus with his followers to become the Draenei. The War of the Ancients Fifteen thousand years later, when Azshara's reckless magics began to attract the attention of Sargeras, Archimonde and Mannoroth led the catastrophic, destructive invasion. With thousands of demonic servants in their wake, they poured through the portal beneath the Well of Eternity, and were let loose upon the ancient land of Kalimdor, razing every structure and spilling the blood of every creature they came across. However, a young scholar, Malfurion Stormrage, gathered a small band of night elves, and, with the help of Cenarius' woodland allies and Alexstrasza's mighty dragon flights, they managed to beat back the demonic hordes, and, in a titanic battle, the portal became unstable and collapsed, sundering the world, and banishing Archimonde and his minions back into the burning pits of the Twisting Nether. The Second Invasion Preparations Archimonde brooded for ten thousand years in the dark recesses of the Twisting Nether as they planned for a new invasion. His colleague, Kil'jaeden, found the means through Ner'zhul and, eventually, Gul'dan, on the world of Draenor. With Mannoroth's sinister help, the chieftains of the orcish Hordes were corrupted, and a bloodlust came over them that swept them into a tumultuous frenzy that engulfed their world. The orcs were to be the harbinger of the Legion's return, destroying all they beheld so that none could oppose the Legion. However, after the exodus into Azeroth and Draenor's eventual destruction, the Horde was defeated by the humans of former Arathor and their allies, and the orcs failed in their unholy mission. However, an old tool was found that could once again be put to use. Ner'zhul, the dark shaman of the Shadowmoon Clan, was sent spiraling with his most faithful disciples into the Twisting Nether after attempting to find new worlds to control, and he was found by Kil'jaeden and the Burning Legion. Over time, he was transformed into the Lich King, an ethereal spirit that controlled the undead Scourge, a force so mighty, that it was expected to succeed where the Horde had failed. They exceeded expectations. Archimonde, of course, was to command the Legion's invasion, but he needed the means of getting to Azeroth. A being with as much tremendous power as an Eredar needed more magic to summon than a simple Nathrezim, and he waited until finally he was contacted by Kel'Thuzad the Summoner, who, after stealing the Book of Medivh from Dalaran, began the lengthy summoning process. As he proceeded, the skies were split asunder, and mighty infernals and felhounds were brought to aid the Scourge. Finally, it was completed, and Archimonde was brought into the world of Azeroth. Wrath of the Legion Archimonde first placed Tichondrius in charge of the Scourge, saying that there was no longer any need of the Lich King. Then, Archimonde proceeded to single-handedly destroy the city of Dalaran using an ancient Eredar spell. The invasion of Lordaeron continued unabated, the magics of Archimonde and Tichondrius summoning hordes of demonic followers, including the diabolical Pit Lord, Mannoroth. Together, they plowed through the nations of Lordaeron, devastating all they beheld. However, Tichondrius soon found that the orcs were missing. The Legion followed them across the sea, where they found not only the orcs but also, the vile night elves who had banished them millennia before. He even met Tyrande, the insolent leader of the Sentinels, who woke the ancient druids, and together, they battled the Legion once again. The Defiler continued the invasion of Kalimdor ruthlessly, battling on two fronts, against the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde was well as the Sentinels. The Legion suffered a setback when Tichondrius was killed by Illidan, but Archimonde seemed to have little concern, and placed his most loyal Dreadlord, Anetheron in joint command of the Scourge with Rage Winterchill, one of the few trustworthy liches. Defiler's End Archimonde then proceeded with what had originally been planned to be done. Under the orders of Kil'jaeden, the mighty demonlord carried out the invasion to attack the World Tree, Nordrassil. By draining the Tree's energies, not only will Archimonde gain untold power, his demonic Legion will also be able to literally tear the world apart. While Archimonde was following the plan proscribed by Sargeras and Kil'jaeden, in truth he desired the powers of the tree to gain godlike powers that could rival those of Sargeras. But, Tyrande and Malfurion had allied with Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore, and Archimonde was forced to ascend Mount Hyjal slowly, destroying every successive base with the help of Azgalor (Mannoroth's successor as leader of the Pit Lords) Rage Winterchill and Anetheron. With his ascension going very well, Archimonde didn't notice the ancestral spirits that were amassing at the base of the World Tree. And as he slaughtered the mortals and their bases, he went heedlessly to the Tree, and began to climb it to claim his power, completely unaware of the trap that Malfurion had set for him. All he knew was that as he neared the Tree, he was growing in size and power, and he was resolved that nothing would stop him. As Archimonde climbed, Malfurion raised the Horn of Cenarius and called to the ancestral guardians. They rose from the forest and amassed around Archimonde. They fell upon him, detonating in a massive explosion that destroyed the demon warlock and incinerated the forests around the World Tree; nature herself would not allow his defilement to occur. Illidan's role in the fall of Archimonde It is widely believed that Illidan, in consuming the Skull of Gul'dan, assured the defeat of Archimonde, as was mentioned by Kil'jaeden the Deceiver. While it is true that Illidan did aid the night elves for a time, Archimonde would likely still have fallen with or without the half-demon's aid. As stated by Malfurion Stormrage, Archimonde's fall was due his "overconfidence" in his "victory". In thinking that none left alive were able to stand against him, he let his guard down as he approach the World Tree. As a result, instead of taking whatever precautionary measures he should have, he waltzed straight up next to the Tree, where its primal fury could deal the most damage. It should be noted that this, and not the part of Illidan, caused Archimonde's death at the end of the war. However, one can also say that Illidan had helped secure victory by removing Tichondrius from the equation- the Darkener might have seen the trap that Archimonde missed. Or it is simply that with Tichondrius and his forces in the Felwood, the legion might have pushed through to Hyjal before Furion was able to secure his trap for the demon. Memorable Quotes: "From this seal shall arise the doom of men, who, in their arrogance, sought to wield our fire as their own. Blindly they build their kingdoms upon stolen knowledge and conceit. Now they shall be consumed by the very flame they sought to control." Just before he destroys the city of Dalaran. (WarCraft III cinematic; spoken in Eredun- for translation, turn on subtitles in the options menu) "Let the echoes of doom resound across this wretched world, that all who live may hear them and despair." After entering the world of Azeroth once more, in Warcraft III. "Tremble mortals, and despair, doom has come to this world." After stepping out of the portal in Dalaran. World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade expansion will open the Caverns of Time to players, and one of the events that players will have access to will be the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Some suspect that Archimonde will be a killable raid boss, but this is mere speculation as Blizzard has yet to elaborate on the players' involvement in the battle. If they remain true to the strategy model, players will more likely fight Archimonde's army of undead and demons until the final moments of the battle, when Archimonde will kill the players personally--seeing as how Archimonde doesn't die until he climbs the World Tree and is blown up by the Wisps, it's not really plausible that he can be killed. There could, however, be a situation where the players are not necessarily tasked with killing Archimonde, but rather hold him off long enough for the wisps to destroy him. Hardly an easy task. One of the realms in World of Warcraft is named after Archimonde. * See: Realm Names and their place in Warcraft Lore Level 10 '''Archimonde Statistics in Warcraft III * 3475 HP (+157% more than a regular Eredar Warlock) * 915 MP (+83% more than a regular Eredar Warlock) * 62-176 chaos ranged damage (+5 item) (+129% more than a regular Eredar Warlock) * 11 divine armor (+8.3 item) (regular Eredar Warlocks have no armor) * Attributes ** 48 Strength (+11 item) ** 44 Agility (+11 item) ** 56 Intelligence (+5 item) * Abilities ** Bash (his attacks sometimes stun target) ** Rain of Chaos (summons multiple infernals and their landing AoE stuns enemies) ** Finger of Death (non-magical damage) ** Dark Portal (summons Doom guards and felbeasts) Infernal Missle Finger of Death Bash Rain of Chaos Dark Portal Category:Game Characters Category:Burning Legion Category:Demons Category:Major Characters Category:Historical Warlocks Category:World:Argus Category:Lore Characters Category:Old Heroes